Facebook’s big profits from its fast-growing mobile advertising are behind a surge in the share price to record highs. <br /><br />The social media site’s revenue increased by 61 percent during the second quarter while net income jumped by 138 percent from the same period last year. <br /><br />Mobile advertising revenue grew 151 percent year-over-year, accounting for roughly 62 percent of Facebook’s overall ad revenue.<br /><br />Stock picker Scott Kessler with S&P Capital is impressed by Facebook: “It really is so unique. And the reality is they are doing a very, very good job of delivering each and every quarter. It’s clear that they have a focus, and they are executing against it.”<br /><br />Facebook said it is seeing increased interest in mobile ads from users and advertisers – who now number 1.5 million world wide. <br /><br />It also revealed it currently has 1.32 billion monthly users, with around 63 percent of them logging on every day.<br /><br />Aggressive investment<br /><br />Facebook executives stressed on a conference call that the company planned to invest aggressively in new projects, such as the Oculus virtual reality headset business that Facebook recently acquired for $2 billion.<br /><br />And executives reiterated past comments that nascent advertising efforts in video and in the Instagram photo-sharing app would not contribute significantly to the top line in the near term.<br /><br />Nor will Facebook take the “cheap and easy” route of putting ads or payment capabilities within its Messenger app, Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said on a conference call with analysts on Wednesday.<br /><br />JMP Securities analyst Ronald Josey said that the go-slow approach was not a concern for investors: “There’s really no rush to add them because their core business is doing so well.” <br /><br />with Reuters
